Former speaker Anna Burke has lashed out at Labor leader
Bill Shorten
over the selection of his frontbench, in the first sign of disunity within party ranks following the election of its new leadership team.

Ms Burke told ABC’s Lateline program on Monday evening that she challenged for the position of chief whip despite being told not to, in the belief that her time as speaker had earned her the right for a prominent position in opposition.

“Most of these discussions had been had before I’d even had a chance to know what was going on. And for me, it’s not really about the outcome; it’s the process. And yes, I’m bitter and twisted at this point in time. I’ll be brutally honest," Ms Burke said.

Ms Burke described the selection process as “a couple of blokes sitting round a room carving up the spoils". She also accused the party of hypocrisy after describing the leadership selection process as highly democratic.

“There was a tough contest there. There were a number of people who felt they deserved to be on the frontbench and didn’t make it. I understand their disappointment," Ms Plibersek told ABC Radio on Tuesday morning.

“It’s certainly not my experience of what’s happened over the last month. We’ve had a very tough few days selecting the frontbench. Anna’s criticism that this is about blokes looking after themselves I don’t think is borne out by the fact that we have 11 women on our frontbench. We have double the number of women in our cabinet the Coalition have.

“It’s a bit glass half full glass half empty, and I think Anna is focused on the glass half empty at the moment."

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“That’s not what happened ... what you call factions, I describe as the inevitable consequence of people talking to each other. I’m not an expert on who are the best 30 people in the team, I’d rather trust the judgment of my 85 colleagues and that’s what’s happened," Mr Shorten said.

Northern Territory MP Warren Snowdon, who is understood to have lashed out during Monday’s caucus meeting after being dumped from the frontbench, also complained about the selection process.

“We do have an antiquated and quite silly process of preselecting people for the shadow ministry in the left and it makes fools of all of us from time to time and it made a fool of me today," Mr Snowdon told Lateline.